Memories of Joy and Pain
by Tsuki6047
Summary: Itachi looks at a picture and slowly his mind starts being dragged to the past, memories of a person he both fears to forget, but doesn't want to remember.haha i suck at summaries sorry! Rated T for charcter death.
1. When We Met

**Disclaimer: What are the propper words I'm looking for? Those painful words we all must say, oh yes, I don't own Naruto, but if i did Itachi would be back kicking a** still :D**

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Itachi sat down in the living room, uninterested in what was going on around him. Kisame was arguing with Deidara about some bet they made, Kakazu chasing Hidan around with an iron bar angrily because he took some of his money without asking. Tobi….he had no idea what Tobi was doing. The noise was excruciating, getting on his nerves, after several minutes he got up irritated and walked to his room. No one ever dared to come into his room, in fear that they might not come back out.

Itachi walked over to his bed, he picked up a picture on top of his bed stand. In the picture there were two people. One was a small girl with intense red hair it was shoulder length, her bangs had lighter red highlights running through them, they had been bleached from the sun. She had kind and friendly blue eyes, and a warm smile. Her lips were small, pink and soft; she had freckles trailing across her nose. The boy was Itachi, when he was about nine he guessed. In the picture, Itachi was putting a necklace around her, it was blue topaz. He got it for her, for her birthday, he remembered how badly she had wanted a necklace with her birthstone, but her parents did not have money to waste on 'meaningless' stuff like jewelry. Itachi forgot minor things like age, from his past about this person; he wanted to rid his memories of her for good.

The girl was so kind, gentle, but caused so many days of pain and torture for him. He closed his eyes and sighed, memories coming to him, he so very badly wanted them to stay away. The memories were of when he first met the girl.

It was his first day at the academy; he had been sitting alone at a desk when he noticed a small hooded figure enter. They looked around fidgeting with their fingers nervously. The figure walked over to Itachi.

"M-may I s-sit h-here?" They said timidly, by the sound of their voice, he knew they were female.

He gave a nod and she sat down silently, her body trembling. The girl was wearing a dark grey coat, a grey pair of capris, and her shirt was hidden under the coat. Itachi was slightly curious why she was wearing a coat in the middle of summer. He turned his attention away from the girl and focused on the teacher instead.

"Welcome!" He suddenly bellowed, the talking everyone had been doing quickly ceased, "I am very happy to have you all in my class this year, I always enjoy new children," he called out to the room, his voice hospitable. "Now I know you all are new to the academy, that is, if you haven't repeated this grade," The teacher said, his eyes focusing on a brown haired boy who looked around unconcerned. "I am looking forward to having an excellent year with you all, You may call me Tsoru Sensei, our schedule is very simple, math, history, reading, lunch, homeroom, P.E., art, training, and time to go home. For each class you will switch teachers, you will not go in the order I told you, you will go in the order of your schedule, I have students who get confused with this every year so listen, also to let you know I am your math teacher, and your homeroom teacher. I believe I told you everything you need to know any questions just ask me, so at the moment I will call role then we will spend the next two days getting to know each other, okay?" He said.

As he began to call names, Itachi turned his focus away from the teacher, "so what's your name?" the girl beside him asked shyly. As if cue he called Itachi's name

"Here" He said softly.

"Itachi, that's a lovely name," The girl said politely, still shaking nervously. Itachi almost laughed he knew she thought it was ridicules, he did himself. He wanted to ask her name but as Tsoru Sensei did with his, he did the same with her.

"Yukiko?" Tsoru Sensei called out.

"H-here" she whispered.

"Yukiko?" Itachi questioned.

"Y-yeah," She turned away shyly

"Beautiful name," Itachi stated.

"I don't really think so," She said quietly.

"It is," Itachi told her and looked away, he didn't feel like lying, honestly he felt like he was stating a fact who couldn't think it was beautiful.

After Tsoru was done calling roll his gaze turned to Yukiko, "hoods off," He told her.

"Y-yes s-sir," She stuttered. She nervously took the grey hood off her head. What was under it surprised Itachi, she had bright red hair, redder then he had ever seen, she had to pigtails on the top of her head and then the rest of her hair went down to her shoulders, her bangs had lighter read highlights close to orange, he guessed her hair was close to a neon red, if there was any such color, but a tad bit duller than that.

She became aware that everyone was staring at her hair. She looked down at her lap and bit her lip, Itachi could see tears trailing down her face. Itachi had seen some odd hairs before pink, green, red, purple, blue he had to admit it, he had also seen red hair before but he had never seen red hair this bright.

'That was probably why other kids are staring, hair that bright isn't very common.' He thought

She was struggling to stay where she was, he could tell all she wanted to do was get out of this place as fast as she could. Itachi felt an urge to comfort her but he pushed it to the back of his head.

The day went by pretty quickly for him, he was happy when the day was finally over he wanted to go home and play with Sasuke, but there was something else on his mind to. Throughout the school day it had been pretty good, he was honestly surprised when he figured out Yukiko had almost every class with him but reading. In every class she would go sit at the very back of every classroom. Itachi would sit at the back too so she didn't feel so much like a loner, something about the small girl made him feel bad for her. Whenever anyone commented on her hair her cheeks would flush red with embarrassment, Itachi could see her struggle with trying to keep tears in.

Itachi was walking out of the academy building when he spotted her sitting by a tree. Her face was buried in her knees and she was trembling. He sighed, it made him feel uncomfortable seeing someone sad like that, he decided to see if he could comfort her.

"Hello," he whispered trying not to startle her.

The minute he spoke her head came up, "h-hello I-Itachi," She sniffed.

He sat down in front of her and studied her, the grey coat she had been wearing was off, she had on a pale yellow tank-top, her eyes were red and glassy from crying.

"Why did you care so much that people were looking at your hair?" He asked a hint of confusion in his voice, after all he never cared what people thought of him.

"Because, I'm tired of people making fun of it, I hate my hair it's to bright it can draw attention from 100 miles away," she pouted burring her face back in her knees.

"I highly doubt it would be visible 100 miles away," He laughed quietly, "also I think your hair is interesting, not bad or awful, or however you think of it, just….different,"

"Really?" She said with uncertainty in her voice.

"Yes," he said. Something about this girl he liked, he didn't know what it was. They were quiet for a few minutes. She started tearing at the grass, twisting it in her fingers.

"I'm sorry," She mumbled breaking the silence.

"For what?" He inquired curiously.

"Crying and moping around the whole day… I'm an emotional mess," she let out a soft laugh. He looked at her curiously but didn't say anything. "It's just people are always laughing and pointing fingers at me because of my hair, I never had any friends, even if I did they quickly left me for the popular crowd. Then the friends I had were laughing at me too…" she whispered.

"I'm sorry about that," He said with sympathy in his voice.

"Don't worry, that was the past, I always have my mom and dad," she smiled kindly, "anyway I was definitely made fun at were I came from because red was a very rare anyway, having hair as red as a ripe tomato didn't help any, most people had blonde or brown," She finished.

"Where did you live before you moved here?" He questioned.

"Koori Village," She said looked back at her knees, her eyes filled with sadness.

"My only friend is my cousin, your not the only one who doesn't have any friends," Itachi pointed out.

"You don't have any friends either?" she asked.

"No, I don't"

"I can be your friend, your best friend if you want your bestest bestest friend," She said smiling brightly, "that is if you want," she added turning away.

"I would like that," He spoke before he could think.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome," He said smiling back.

He opened his eyes and took a deep breath, that one specific day is part of the entire hell he is living in now, forgetting her would make his life much less sufferable….

A.N. Okay don't worry it's not over, I believe there is gonna be at least 3 chapters maybe more. I hope you liked it, if not it's gonna get much more exciting, will to me it is I understand your different and you might think it just gets suckish. Anyway this is a memory of when he first met her so you can't expect it to be too exciting. Please go easy on reviews it's my first fanfic. If you think anything is odd or off let me know, if it's good let me know, just a little comment go ahead and say I'll take every word to heart. Also Yukiko is one of my OCs her full name is Yukiko Natsuki Takahashi. Yukiko in Japanese means fortunate child, you will soon learn why her name is Yukiko, Last thing you should know is Koori Village is not a real village, I came up with it, koori means ice in Japanese, ok so that pretty much it, love you all and see you in the next chapter :)


	2. Birthday

Itachi laid on the bed in silence; he set the picture back down and closed his eyes again. Thinking about her made his heart sore, but it also gave him a feeling of warmth, he could always use during these times of his life.

He remembered when they were nine; it was one the best years of his life, but not quite.

"Hello Itachi!" Yukiko yelled running up to the boy, for the past two years the two had become very close. They were always together supporting each other.

"Hello Yukiko," Itachi said turning his head in his direction and gave a friendly smile.

She walked over to the bench and sat by him, "I can't wait for school to start, the exams are finally here, and I know I'll pass this time!" She said with a sparkle in her eyes.

"I bet you will to."

"It is my birthday, that's all I want in the whole world," she said excitedly.

"Why," Itachi inquired, he had heard the answer many times, but it still always please him.

"So I can spend more time with you, since we'd both be ninjas we'd have so much more time to talk and everything," She slightly screeched with eagerness.

"Shush, it's very early you'll wake others."

"Oh, yeah." she whispered, her body still trembling with excitement.

Suddenly her trembling came to a stop and she looked up thoughtfully, "maybe I wont pass, it being my birthday wont change anything, I might fail like I did last year and the year before, nothing really changes," she whispered looking down.

"A lot has changed, you're a lot stronger, your agility has increased, you've gained more intelligence, I believe you can pass easily," Itachi said comfortingly.

"I don't think so," she grumbled.

"I've seen your progress."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Itachi," she smiled throwing her arms around him, "I have to go now so I'm not late, see ya,"

"See ya," Itachi called. He suddenly felt lonely as he saw her figure disappear; he missed the warmth of the embrace and her sweet scent.

He had the entire day to do what he wanted, both of his teammates were severely wounded from his last mission, neither of them can be ninja anymore due to their injuries. Sisame was pretty ticked off, she was a proud shinobi, her legs were broken, crushed for that matter, no medical shinbi can heal them, and she has fractures around her spine so she will be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Tukora took the news easily, she had a small chance of being able to stay a shinobi, but she would probably be a genin forever, she had declined going back to the shinobi world, she said she would much rather live in the village as a citizen after all the blood she had seen. The reason Itachi was fine, was that he had been on a separate mission delivering a message to another village. Since Itachi's past teammates can no longer be ninja, he would be assigned to a new team with people who graduate this year.

Itachi was walking the streets bored; it would be awhile before Yukiko got out of class. He could always go see Tukora or Sisame in the hospital, but all he really wanted was his friend to get out of class. He got her something he knew she had wanted very badly for her birthday. He decided to read a book to pass time.

He had gone through three books when he saw her coming from the way of the academy. Her face was full of joy, pleased and honored. Itachi noticed her headband, she wore it one her forehead underneath her bangs. She walked over to Itachi and gave a proud smile, "You were right I could do it," she said excitement thick in her voice.

"See," Itachi smirked.

She stuck out her tongue, "guess what!" she exclaimed suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"You, Natsaki, and I are all on the same team!" She screeched in joy.

"I'm pleased for that," He smiled, trying to hide his excitement.

"Oh yeah, my mother and father were wanting to meet you, I was wondering if you would like to come over, we can celebrate over at my house?" she asked shyly.

"Sure, but I'll have to leave around six," Itachi replied.

She nodded happily.

Neither of them ever really had time to go to each other's house or anything, so it would be Itachi's first time meeting her parents. She wasn't allowed at his house; sadly, his father hated her clan. After the first few weeks he had known her, he finally decided to tell his family about her, as he was speaking about her at the table, at dinner time, his father asked what her full name was, when Itachi replied, Fugaku told him to stay away from her, that he didn't like her clan. Itachi simply nodded and didn't argue, but he had continued to talk to her and get closer.

"Let's go," she cheered. She grabbed his hand unthinkingly and started to run off. Itachi was thankful she couldn't see his face behind he, it was almost as bright as her hair.

As they arrived at her house Itachi looked around curiously, her house was almost nothing like his, it was small, comforting, it seamed nice to him.

"I know it isn't much, but it's the best we've got," She said walking over to open the door.

"I think it's lovely," He said walking in. The rooms were bright, cheerful, somehow the house itself seamed happy.

"Come on, I want you to meet my mother and father," she said gesturing him towards a room. He followed looking at everything in interest.

"Hello Mother, I brought home my friend so you could meet him today," Yukiko said, Itachi turned to face the woman in front of him, she had dull orange hair, green eyes and her skin had a deep tan. The woman looked very kind and beautiful. Itachi stared at her curiously.

"Hello, it's a great pleasure to meet you, you can call me Asami," The woman said smiling.

"You may call me Itachi," he said politely.

"Mother, do you know were father is?" Yukiko inquired.

"At work, he owes extra hours, he'll be home soon," Asami said turning.

Itachi looked around, realizing they were in the kitchen.

"Okay, can you come get me when father returns?" Yukiko asked, "We'll be up in my room."

"Of course dear," her mother said washing the dishes.

"Thank you, Itachi come on, I want to show you my room," she said pulling him. He turned and followed.

Yukiko's room was simple, pale yellow walls and a wood floor. Her bed had a baby blue sheet, she had a wooden desk against a window with books and papers, her dresser was against a wall facing her bed and the was a small television sitting on it, next to her bed there was a chest.

She smiled at him, "here let me introduce you to some things," Yukiko said going over to the chest. She bent down and started pulling stuffed-animals out of it.

"This one is Isamu," She said grabbing a brown lion, "he is courageous and super strong and he protects everyone, grr!" she said making it move.

"Oh and this is Kazuko," she said pulling out an eagle, "she fights for peace to make everything better. Oh! I like him a lot," she said pulling out a weasel, "I named him Itachi," she said looking at him; he could see red appearing on her cheeks.

Itachi chuckled, "what's that one," he said pointing down to a tattered teddy bear.

She looked at the teddy bear a sadness engulfing over her eyes, she reached down and hugged it very tight, she began to fiddle with it, "this is Kiyoshi," she whispered.

Itachi looked at her worriedly, "he was one of the many," she said burying her head into the stuffed animal.

"Many of what," Itachi asked confused.

"Do you know why I was named Yukiko?" she questioned.

"No, you had never told me."

"Ok let's start from the beginning, the reason I was named Yukiko was because I was the only survivor, my mother had a problem, I can't remember what it is, but the baby was never fully developed, so they would be dead at birth. My mother cried over many deaths, but she still was always filled with hope when a new child would come. She considered having me removed to save the pain, but then she reminded herself it was what she had always wanted. She was so happy when I lived, and then another three years later she was blessed again with another child, she named him Kiyoshi, and he lived," she stopped and took a deep breath, "he was only around six months old when they found him, as you know the great ninja war had been going on around that time, during that time they showed no mercy, back then my mother was a shinobi herself, she was out fighting in the war and it was my job to take care of him. They came and I wasn't strong enough, they slaughtered my brother, the only reason I am still alive is because some leaf ninja came when they heard the ruckus, they saw what had happened and quickly began to eliminate the enemy. I was covered in so much blood; it was all worse knowing it was the blood of my kin. So after that I decided I would become a ninja and protect everyone I love. After my brother's death my mom quit as a ninja and she always fiercely protected me, no one could even look at me in a funny way, my mom is still very protective, but she finally remembered how to let in trust." Yukiko finished

"I'm sorry," Itachi whispered, his heart aching for her.

"No need to be, just the bear brought up memories, all of these animals are past siblings that have died, everyone but Kiyoshi is older than me," she said putting Kiyoshi and the others back in the chest than closing it, she grabbed a lock from one of her bed stand drawers and locked the chest.

They had continued to talk about less heart breaking things, Itachi was enjoying himself, Yukiko was always a pleasure to be around. She babbled for a while than she started talking about her birthday, "This was probably the best birthday I ever had," she said brightly pushing her bangs out of her face, her shoulder-length hair was down like, it normally was now a days

"I see why, after two years you graduate, that isn't bad, not bad at all," Itachi laughed quietly. She gave a cheery smile, "I have a gift for you," he said looking at her kindheartedly.

"There was no need to get me a gift," she said, but he could see the interest deep in her eyes.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small, blue, box with a red ribbon at the top. She took it and shook it a few times, it was silent, she looked at it curiously and slowing began to take off the ribbon, when she had finished she opened the box and looked inside, within the box there was something wrapped up in tissue. She unraveled the tissue and looked at it, she let out a soft gasp, it was a snowflake necklace, blue topaz on the tips and in the center, white topaz pointed out from the center, the rest was silver.

She looked at Itachi in bewilderment," thank you," Yukiko screeched in happiness throwing her arms around him. He looked at her gladly and returned the embrace.

"Would you like me to help you put it on," Itachi wondered. She gave a happy nod. He slid his hands under her hair and latched the necklace together, as he did so they both heard a _snap_ at the door. Both looked over quizzically and saw Asami sitting at the door with a camera, a tall black haired man accompanied her, he had green eyes and his black hair was messy.

"Father!" Yukiko screeched and gave her father a hug.

"Hello Yukiko," Her father grinned, "and this must be your friend," he said smiling at Itachi.

"Yes Father, he made my birthday absolutely wonderful!" She said enthusiastically.

"I'm happy to know," her Father said, "It's a pleasure to meat you, you can call me Tadashi."

"Yes sir," Itachi said politely bowing.

"Yukiko, supper is ready, is your friend going to accompany us?" Asami inquired.

"Of course! Come on Itachi," she said, she said running to the kitchen.

At supper, Yukiko's parents had many questions. They seemed very curious why an Uchiha was friends Takahashi; Itachi answered all their questions truthfully. After supper, Itachi said he had a nice time and decided it was best to get back home.

"See you tomorrow when we meet our sensei," Yukiko called as he was walking off.

Itachi turned around and waved good-bye, "See you tomorrow to."

As Itachi was walking home he began to think about how today had gone, seeing Yukiko screech in delight the way she had made Itachi happy. He never understood, but being around her always made him cheerful, she made him tend to talk a lot, whenever she was sad he was sad, whenever she was happy he was happy, whenever she was angry with someone he was angry with someone to, something about her made him change, made them act like the same person, she made him…..different, different, Itachi thought, that's the word.

**A.N. Ok that's chapter two out of the way, hope you guys enjoyed it, next chapter is when everything tends to get more exciting hope you read it! Please Please Please leave reviews it would make my life happy. One last thing, if you want to see how Yukiko's necklace looks, i put it up in my profile in a section called link Fortunate Child, Snow Child, Rare Child. Asami- Morning Beauty. Tadashi-loyal, faithful. Kiyoshi- Purity. Ok so see you all in the next chapter, for now I'll be working on Mother to Son, bye now! :D**


	3. Sadness

Itachi didn't open his eyes this time, the memory came too quickly. This was a memory where Yukiko's life really turned into a hell; he wasn't very fond of this one.

Itachi was standing in a grassy field. He could see three other figures, one was much taller then the others. Itachi knew immediately it was Tadashi Sensei. The other two were easy to tell apart, the shorter one was Yukiko. Itachi turned and threw shuriken at all of them, predicting which way they would step so he could hit them. As he did so, they turned into logs.

"Great Job, like usually," Tadashi sensei said coming out of a nearby bush.

"You always do so well Itachi," Yukiko beamed walking over.

"I could have found Itachi and Tadashi if I wanted," Natsaki grumbled **(A.N. It is Natsaki by the way, not Natsuki, I really like the name Saki, so the name Natsaki randomly popped into my head one day and I liked it, it's pronounced Not- sa-key) **

Yukiko suddenly looked glum, she had only found Tadashi, but that was because they were running out of time and Itachi needed to have his turn, also to add to that, every single one of them found her. Itachi smiled at her, "don't worry, you'll get it next time you just need to train some more," Itachi encouraged. She gave a small smile but said nothing.

"Okay guys, training is through for today, you have rest of the day to yourselves. Tomorrow you will be going on your first C-rank mission," Tadashi said enthusiastically.

Everyone looked up excitedly. The entire year they had done nothing but D-rank missions, they were ready to move up.

"Finally," Natsaki cheered.

"So, go do what ever comes into your little devilish brains," Tadashi said looking directly at Natsaki.

Natsaki gave a wicked grin and ran off.

Itachi and Yukiko sat in silence for a few moments, Tadashi had already left. "So would like to come with me to the meadow?" Yukiko asked.

Itachi gave a little smile and nodded. They stood up and started walking silently. Itachi thought of when they first found the meadow.

They had discovered the meadow on accident. Itachi and Yukiko had been training; Itachi had shoved her a little too hard and unintentionally pushed her through some brambles. He felt bad for doing so, but he knew she was okay. She stood up quickly, her arms and legs covered in small scratches, the mumbled something rubbing her arm. As she turned around to see where they were, the scene before her amazed her. He turned his head to see, he slightly gasped. It was a big open field of long grasses, in the middle there was a large tree with coral colored flowers; the rest of the field was decorated with bright colored flowers. Farther away, you could hear the soothing sound of a river. Now they went their whenever they wanted to talk or just spend time together. Yukiko hadn't wanted this area to be destroyed my fighting or some other misfortunate incident, so they kept it a secret.

As they arrived at the entrance of the meadow, Itachi snapped out of his thoughts. She gently removed the brambles from the opening. That was something Itachi admired about her; she was always so gentle and kind with everything, even her enemy. It severely hurt him knowing such a pure soul would be tainted with the sin of killing. He sighed and followed her.

"To bad winters coming," she commented looking around.

He looked at her questioningly. "Because, with winter approaching all the beautiful plants are starting to wither, soon they will be nothing more than a corpse," she said sadly. She always talked odd about plants, nature for that matter, treating them like people, but her kekei genkai explained that. She had a very odd kekkei genkai. Very few actually can make it useful. Step one is that they can see everything as different colored chakra, nothing is quite as solid, just chakra, this can help them locate the enemy easier because they will notice the abnormal chakra there, what happens is when they reach step two is they can take those chakras they see and control them, without their eyes they can't use step two because they can't see the chakra. The kekkei genkai can be very wonderful, they can pretty much learn all five elements, the main problem was very little of the people in her clan could get to step one let alone step two. The people of her clan saw life in everything, Itachi didn't find it strange, he wished everyone could see things in her perspective.

"Yes," he said softly, "It's a sad sight."

She gave a quick nod and went over to the large tree and sat down. He took a seat next to her.

"I can't believe it's already been over a year since I became a shinobi," She smiled.

"Neither can I, your not as immature as you were a year ago," he chuckled.

"Yeah," she laughed quietly.

"Like the time we had been on a mission, and you saw a stranger holding a piece of candy. You ran as fast as your feat could carry you, got on your hands and knees and begged for it, the man gave it to and that was the day I learned why your mom didn't keep sweets at your house, the sugar rush you had made you continue to babble nonstop and you were shaking horribly."

She laughed, "But I still have my moments." He laughed; he would have to agree with that.

"I don't think I'm ready for tomorrow's mission," she said suddenly pulling at the grass as she always did when she was nervous.

"I believe you are, you mastered the first part of you kekkei genkai, and with more training you'll get the second," He encouraged.

She gave another small smile and looked forward. After a few minutes of silence her eyes widened, "Oh, dang it, I forgot, I'm supposed to go shopping with my mom tonight," she groaned.

He looked at her curiously. "My aunt and uncle are coming to visit us for the weekend, like I told you a long time ago, our clan is spread out throughout the world because we couldn't decided what country we wanted to serve so we all split up, will my aunt and uncle are coming and since we rarely ever see each other my mother wanted to go buy some nice clothing," she explained quickly.

"Ah okay, I have to be getting home anyway," he said standing up. She wrapped her arms around him for a brief moment then was off running, see ya tomorrow," she yelled.

Itachi stood in silence; yet again, he missed the warmth of the embrace. He sighed and started to make his way home. It had been a pretty good day, but being able to go home and play a bit with Sasuke would make it all the better. When he got home, his mother was setting dinner and Sasuke was just babbling. He quietly walked past them to go put his stuff away. The minute Sasuke saw Itachi enter the kitchen, his eyes filled with glee. He jumped up from the table and ran into Itachi giving him a big bear hug.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke yelled with joy.

Itachi gave a sigh, "Hey Sasuke," he said smiling warmly at the young boy.

"Nii-san, today at school we had a lot of work because some blonde kid, I can't remember his name, wouldn't stop talking the day before, so our teacher decided to keep us all busy by giving us all this work today, I was the first one done with all of it, but the blonde tore up his papers then ran off at recess time." Sasuke chatted quickly, "So how was you day?" Sasuke questioned.

"Sasuke, honey," his mother spoke up. Sasuke turned his head toward her.

"Yes?"

"Give you brother some room, he just got back from training and is probably tired, let him eat dinner first," she said gently.

Sasuke made a pout, "okay," he grumbled marching over to the table and sitting down. Itachi let a soft laugh than joined his family.

The night went by slowly, he took a walk after dinner, read a few books, played with Sasuke for a long time, than went to bed around nine. He woke up early, quickly putting on his clothing and sat down bored. He knew his sensei wouldn't be there at least until eight, he had to wait three hours before he left. After a few minutes on debating whether or not he should go see if Yukiko. He knew she would be up, and going to talk to her was much better than sitting around his house doing nothing. Itachi knew what he wanted to do, he just wasn't sure if she would be in the mood to talk this early in the morning. He decided to go chat with her a bit after a few minutes of thinking it over.

As he approached her house, he saw a dark figure on top of the roof, the red on their head was enough to let him know it was Yukiko. As he came near, she turned her head alarmed. It was still slightly dark out; she could not quite see his figure. He gave a quiet chuckle; she calmed down and looked at his dark figure friendly.

"Hey, Itachi, good-morning" she smiled.

"Good-morning."

"What brings you to my evil lair so early in the morning?"

"Oh just came for the usual, some skulls so my house doesn't look so gloomy and a few alligators to keep the neighbors away," he chuckled. She gave a smile and burst into laughter.

"Sorry sir, my last customer ate the last alligator and were sold out of skulls, come back when we've restocked. She giggled.

"Ah dang, now my house is gonna be stuck looking like someone died there," he moped and She burst into another fit of laughter… He beamed and looked away. Playing with her was fun, he had never really been into acting childish, games just never appealed to him, but it was somehow enjoyable with her.

"Eh, I wish it could just hurry up and be eight, I don't want to wait another hour before we can go on our mission," she groaned watching the sun slowly rise.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"Oh yeah." she smiled excitement filling her eyes. He turned his gaze to her wonderingly.

"My aunt and uncle arrived yesterday, turns out they brought their kids with them, I want you to come and meet them, a few will probably be up."

"That sounds nice."

"Come on," she said gesturing him towards her door.

As he walked inside he saw three children, one was about his age, the other two were much younger. "Okay let me introduce you to them," Yukiko smiled, "the older one is Kiyomi," she said pointing to white haired girl. Itachi studied her, she had snow-white hair and her eyes were a milky white, not quite the same as her hair, her skin almost as pale as her hair. Her lips were soft and pink just like Yukiko's, the bit of color looked foreign on the girl. She looked at him emotionlessly and turned away. "She's like that don't let it bother you," Yukiko whispered. Itachi nodded, but something from the girl did bother him, she seemed to add something troublesome, uncomfortable to the room, he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"This one is Saki," she said interrupting his thoughts, "she's only two, isn't she adorable," Yukiko cooed.

Itachi looked at Saki, she had dullish orange hair with brighter orange highlights, similar to Yukiko's hair, but it was cut into a boyish haircut. (**A.N. you know sasori's hair? It looks like that only orange :) )**. This child was full of color. She had big, lavender eyes. Her cheeks were a rosy pink, still full of baby fat. Her skin was a light tan. "Very," Itachi agreed.

She pointed to the last one, "and last of all, that's Mitsuru, he's two also, Saki and him a twins, he's just as cute."

Itachi looked in Mitsuru's direction; he had white hair, cut similar to Saki's, just a tad bit longer. His eyes were seawater blue, cheeks a soft pink and chubby.

"He is," Itachi. Smiled.

"Come on guys, come say hi to Itachi," she motioned them forward.

The white haired girl was the first to speak, "Hello, Itachi," she spoke softly, but strongly, a coldness to her voice.

Saki came up shyly, "I Saki," she whispered, her voice an unclear baby talk, but he could still understand her.

Mitsuru looked at him curiously. "I Mitsuru," the child spoke loudly, clearer then Saki.

"That's almost it, Yumi and Kazuko are still asleep," Yukiko told him, "we better get going maybe we can train a bit." Itachi nodded and followed.

Surprisingly when they arrived, Tadashi was sitting down waiting. His had a green book in his hand and a pencil; he looked up and smiled when he saw them. He put the book and pencil in his pocket and walked over to them.

"So guys, happy to know you're here, now we're just waiting on Natsaki."

"You're here 30 minutes early?" she questioned.

"Yep got bored at home, excitement kept me up all night."

"Me too!" she grinned.

As they sat and waited for Natsaki, Yukiko babbled as she did every morning with new stories. Usually Itachi listened; her stories were ordinarily full of color and detail. Today she had been talking about her baby cousins, she had heard about them, but had never seen them until last night. She also commented on how she cooed over them all night until Mitsuru spit up his dinner on her when she had been tossing him in the air. Tadashi fell over laughing and Itachi was trying to keep from doing the same. When Yukiko was done with her story, Tadashi mentioned how he was considering proposing to his girlfriend Etsuko. Yukiko spent the rest of the morning encouraging Tadashi, up until Natsaki arrived.

"Let's get going!" she shouted before she came into sight. Yukiko jumped slightly startled.

"Good choice," Tadashi said standing up, "and Natsaki, do you mind explaining why you were twenty minutes late." Tadashi questioned walking towards the village gates.

"Because, I was really tired this morning cause all I did last night was train, so when my alarm clock went off I was too tired to get out of bed, so slept a bit longer.

"Not a very good excuse, as a ninja you don't have time for laziness, even if you did spend your whole day training it would be your fault for wasting your rest time."

"Sorry Sensei."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, you made your teammates wait, therefore since you were so into training last night, today you can run 20 laps around the village." Itachi turned and saw Natsaki with her mouth hanging down. "Be happy you weren't 21 minutes late," Tadashi laughed. She muttered a curse and ran to catch up with them.

"First C-rank… how exciting," Yukiko smiled a glow in her eyes.

"It's nothing to big now guys, just guarding a normal civilian to the safety of their new home," Tadashi calmed her. Unexpectedly, their mission was a tad bit more difficult then Tadashi predicted. It turns out that the man had stole some food from a poor family to feed his own, the people were tracking him down for revenge, but in the end they lost, the man was kind enough to return the food he took and apologized. Yukiko had enjoyed the entire mission Itachi could tell that by the look on her face.

As they returned to the village, Yukiko just chattered nonstop about their mission. Itachi was slightly relieved when Tadashi told them they could go home. Itachi was somewhat exhausted, he regretted waking up so early now. When he got home, he ignored the noise buzzing from the kitchen and went straight to his room. He tiredly curled up on his sleeping mat (can't remember what they are called) he fell into sleep.

_He was in front of his friends house, Yukiko was standing next to him, fear in her eyes, Itachi looked at her concerned, she kept pointing her finger towards the house, his concern turned into curiosity, he looked back to the house and there was nothing wrong with it, then a scent filled the air, he began coughing horribly. Black started to fill the air, he realized it was smoke. The same fear in Yukiko's eyes filled his; where there's smoke… there must be fire! That's why the girl had been scared. Itachi looked back up to the house and saw a tall figure standing in the middle, they had white hair, and colorless eyes, ones filled with evil. He stared at the shape for a few more moments when it hit him. Kiyomi! He remembered the emotionless look she had in, the uncomfortable feeling she put in the air. She gave a wicked smirk and raised her hand. A dark light glowed from her hand. Yukiko began to pull on Itachi's arm, trying to move him away. He attempted to follow but his feet were stuck, he looked down and saw mud pasting him to the ground. As he turned to face her again, the black ball in her hand was coming towards him. He heard Yukiko screech then it was over._

Itachi woke up trembling the next morning, sweat dripping down his face. He gazed at his room.

"It was just a dream," he thought relieved. Dream or not though, it was still fresh in his mind, making him tremble, it seemed like some kind of omen. He shook his head clearing his thoughts from the dream and headed downstairs.

He found his mother downstairs cooking breakfast, his father sitting silently, and his brother was probably up in his room playing. Itachi wasn't too hungry; his dream ruined his appetite so he ignored the smell of food and headed out the door.

As he approached Yukiko's house and he noticed a strong smell, one like smoke, like in his dream. As he grew closer the smell increased so did his anxiety. He broke into a run and stopped in front of Yukiko's house, huge flames were rising from the house. He looked around frightened searching for the young girl. He turned toward a tree and saw her standing in front of the house her eyes wide, filled with fear, sadness, and hatred. Saki and Mitsuru were next to her, holding her hands. The two toddlers looked at the fire curiously.

Itachi ran over to her, hiding his own fear. "What happened," he whispered.

She turned her head to face him, her eyes still wide. "Me…" was the only thing that could escape her mouth.

Itachi grabbed her hand pulling her away from the fire. Her being so close to the flames made him uneasy. She walked with him emotionless. Saki was clinging to her hand and Itachi had Mitsuru's hand. Itachi was thankful when the heat from the flames had vanished. He turned back in the direction they had come from, the fire barely visible.

"What happened," he asked again, his voice and eyes soft.

Tears began to form at the corner of her eyes, "When I came home from the mission I went and told Kiyomi all about it, she was smiling and laughing at some points, when she heard the whole story she said I had done really well and she wanted to teach me how to get to step two in my kekkei genkai. I did everything she told me, she had never mentioned how hard it was to control though; I was trying to control the fire element, but…. I couldn't, no one expected it, when I tuned to ask Kiyomi for help she was gone. I rushed inside; the fire was growing at an extraordinary rate. Yumi and Kazuko were rushing around the house searching for the toddlers; they had always loved their siblings. When they found them, they shoved Saki, Mitsuru, and me all out the door. My mother and father had been asleep so were my aunt and uncle, the two of them ran upstairs to get them, but the roof kind of caved in on them and crushed them, along with my mom, dad, aunt, and uncle, and now they're all dead," she wept.

The two children looked at her curiously, to young to understand the term _death._ He had a feeling that Kiyomi had set this up, knew it would happen, the dream returned, the evil look on her face, this wasn't quite the same as the dream, but it was pretty damn close. He let go of Mitsuru's hand and pulled Yukiko in a hug. She grabbed him tightly, sobbing into his chest.

"It'll be okay," he eased.

"What wong wit Yuki?" Saki asked.

"Nothing, she'll be fine," Itachi whispered. He looked back toward the fire and saw shinobi approaching it, using water-style ninjutsu to extinguish the flames. Itachi dragged Yukiko over to a tree and sat her down, he motioned the kids over as well. Itachi sat down by Yukiko wrapping his arms protectively around her, burring his face in her hair. Her scent reminded him of their meadow, comforting and sweet. He glanced at her face, her eyes were closed and her breathing was steady. Tadashi would understand why they were late today. He gently laid his head back in her hair. Keeping her tight in his arms. As he sat quietly with her, he realized something himself, something he probably should of realized a long time ago, something he had felt for a long time just never noticed.

He remembered what he thought long ago, when he had noticed she had made him different. "Now I understand.," he whispered softly.

**A.N. Hate it? Love it? Okay? Please tell me. Also please please please leave me reviews I'm happy people read the story, but leaving me reviews gives me a warm bubbly feeling inside, so pretty please for me?**


	4. Old Pains

Itachi was standing in a big open field, a figure farther off in the distance started making wind style hand-signs. Itachi smirked, as the jutsu was coming towards him, he turned into a log. The figure was prepared, as he ended up behind her, she launched a punch. He grabbed her hands and held them behind her back.

"Better," he whispered and let go of her arms.

"Next time I will get you," Yukiko growled and went back to training.

At the moment she was using her natural element wind. For the past two years ever since the accident she caused, she had no time for play. All she ever did was train. Saki and Mitsuru were in the dirt next to him playing some ninja game. Yukiko loved the small children, she believed they were the only family she had left. With the little money she has to take care of them she manages. Whenever she's on the verge of loosing her house though, Itachi would willingly hand over some of his money.

Yukiko had changed a lot ever since her mother and father's death, the warmth and kindness her eyes once held, became completely overtaken with anger and emptiness. He was happy to be around her still. It seemed when he was here her bad mood would lighten and she would somewhat be her old self, but the burning hatred she held deep inside never truly vanished, it was just covered with a mask. Yukiko managed to learn to control: water, earth, wind (naturally), and lightening, for the past two years. She has never even considered learning fire. Itachi was truly surprised by her progress, most of her clan it would take a lifetime to learn one element, she learned four in two years.

"Itachi-kun, can you pway wit us?" Saki's bright cheery voice called over to him.

"Sorry guys not right now, I have to train with your cousin," he replied, avoiding another wind attack.

Both children gave a pout and went back to playing by themselves. Itachi and Yukiko were recently training for the chunin exams which was a two days away. The had passed the first two, now it's time for the finals. All through their entire break they had been training.

Itachi used his Sharingan and trapped her in an illusion. She hissed, but her eyes remained fearless. Itachi appeared behind her with his Katana and gently sank the blade into her soft flesh. Blood started spilling from the wound and she didn't even wince she turned around and her fist aimed for his head. He Grabbed her arm just as he had done before and ran the blade into her skin again. Again she didn't wince, she attempted to kick him, but he easily avoided it. He wasn't enjoying this illusion, hurting her, but he promised to help make her stronger. The day went by quickly around 6:00 both children were screaming, they wanted to go home. Eventually Yukiko called a stop to their training session and grabbed both the kids hands.

"Would you like to come over?" she asked walking back over to him.

He gave a smile, she now lived in an apartment, not as nice as her old house, but okay. "That would be pleasant," he beamed.

She nodded pasting a fake smile on her face and walked away. Itachi missed her joyfulness, her ability to be able to cheer anyone up with a few comforting words. Now she would watch people suffer, and he could see a hidden joy in her eyes. He could tell she enjoyed knowing she wasn't the only one with loss. Enjoyed knowing she wasn't the only one who had to suffer. Seeing this in her eyes broke his heart, but there was nothing he could do. No matter how much she hated herself, Itachi would always feel the same for her. No matter how much she said she couldn't forgive herself, he would always forgive her. No matter how harsh, angry, ruthless she was. He could still see her kindness, her benevolence…. Something only he could see and others are now blind too.

When the arrived to her house she put both children at the dinner table immediately and served them some leftovers from yesterday. Both cheered happily, oblivious to her rotten mood. She walked to her room quietly, hoping no one would notice her missing presence, of course one of them did. He followed her, why the twins chatted mindlessly.

He walked into her room and saw her head lying in her arms on the bed, the rest of her body was on the floor. He noticed a glistening liquid dropping from her blue eyes. She turned her head straight and closed her eyes, whispering a soft prayer.

"What do you want?" she asked emotionlessly.

" I wanted to see what you were doing. Why are you crying?" he questions creasing forming in his forehead.

She looked slightly shocked and put her hand up to her face, another tear leaving her eyes. He felt anger suddenly start to boil in her. "Why can't I cry?" she yelled suddenly, "everyone else can cry, but why can't I, I don't care about the damn ninja rules! I never have, so guess what, I don't care if I cry or not! Why the hell does it concern you anyway?" every word she spoke dripped with venom.

Itachi stood their, he was used to her now easy temper. She stared at him, suddenly sorry and regret filled her eyes.

"Sorry," she whispered, letting more tears fall freely, "what is wrong with me," she cried falling to the floor. Itachi walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"You're suffering from loss, it's all right," he murmured soothingly. She looked back up to him, drying her eyes.

"I shouldn't be yelling at everyone, especially you, who has always been by my side and going against your father's rules. I apologize for my awful mood, what happened was in the past and this is the present," she whispered.

She got up to leave, walking back to the kids. Itachi sighed and walked back out to the kitchen. "I guess I should be getting home, see you guys later," he waved.

"You have to west tomowwow, youw exams arw coming soon," Mitsuru called as Itachi walked out the door.

Itachi nodded.

As he got home, he had so much on his mind. He was silent as he usually was at dinner. Answering Sasuke's questions with simple yeses and no's. He attempted to go to bed early, but with the chunin exams approaching he was unable to. Eventually he fell asleep.

He did exactly as Mitsuru said the next morning, rested. Sitting in bed letting his muscles rejuvenate so he was in top condition for tomorrow. Sitting in bed all day was boring, he read every book they had, the was nothing to go do, and he couldn't train. After a while he read some books he had already read. The day went by so slow, he couldn't even go train Sasuke. Sasuke soon noticed this and brought some blocks into Itachi's room to play with him. Itachi relieved, even if it was a six year olds game.

"Itachi, are you nervous about the chunin exams?" Sasuke questioned while trying to build a house.

"No, I just need to rest," he replied.

"Are you worried about Yukiko?"

"Not really, she's a lot stronger."

"I know your worried," Sasuke laughed.

"Only a little," Itachi said embarrassed, red starting to appear on his cheeks.

"After the chunin exams can you train with me,?"

"Maybe, if I can move."

"You'll beat your opponents easily."

"Yeah."

They spent the rest of the day in silence, waiting for bedtime. As it grew dark Itachi went to bed early again. Lying down, worrying about Yukiko. Maybe the young girl hasn't gotten strong enough yet, after all it was Natsaki she was facing, Natsuki is ruthless to her enemies, even if they are her friends. Itachi new he could beat all of them, so he wasn't at all worried for his own safety. Closing his eyes he forced himself into sleep.

The next morning Itachi left for the chunin exams early, making sure not to wake anyone. Tadashi sensei was already there with Etsuko sensei. She was smiling at them with her hands intertwined with her husband's. Yukiko was coming up to them, along with Natsaki, both girls glaring at one another.

"Hello, ladies!" Tadashi greeted them.

"Hello Sensei," they both responded.

"So are all you guys ready?"

"Yep."

"Okay, so don't get nervous that everyone is watching, they might laugh if you loo-" Etsuko sensei elbowed him hard as a sign to shut up.

"Don't worry guys you'll be fine," Etsuko encouraged.

"But don't forget at least two of you will loose." Tadashi pointed out. Etsuko elbowed him again.

"I mean, yeah do your best, I know all of you are going to win," he wheezed. Etsuko rolled her eyes. Her students failed the forest of death, so they would be in the crowd.

Almost an hour past and other squads started arriving at the huge stadium to.

Tadashi was staring at his watch and as it turned six he gestured them through the doors.

As they walked in they looked around curiously, the stadium was huge, there was a lot of people who would be watching. He noticed Yukiko shake with a bit of nervousness, Itachi smiled at this action, she seemed a little like her old self. Minutes after waiting to do something, people started crowding into the stadium, thousands. Yukiko looked around her eyes wide with shock. The proctor approached them.

"Okay not much to it, you can do anything you want. Even kill your opponent, but if they withdraw or give up the match is over, that means no more attacking. Pretty much it," the Procter explained.

They all gave nods, but remained silent. More time passed before the hokage announced it would begin.

"First up, Takahashi, Yukiko and Sasaki, Natsaki," both girls approached determination shrouding their eye.

"Begin," the proctor announced.

Natsaki gave Yukiko sneer. Yukiko gave a glare, one with pure venom as she stared at her rival. Yukiko wasted no time with Natsaki.

"Takahashi special ninjutsu," she hissed, forming hand signs. Her eyes became a shade lighter, "earth-style, stone tigers!" Two large cats formed out of the ground, approaching Natsaki quietly. The blonde haired girl backed away, forming hand signs herself.

"Water-style acid rain," She yelled. Little drops of rain fell onto the tigers, sending it right through the hard rock. The tigers continued moving forward. Natsaki looked up and glared at Yukiko. Suddenly one of the tigers attacked, puncturing Natsaki's soft flesh. Natsaki flinched back, ripping her arm out of the tigers mouth.

"Is that the best you got, apple?" Natsaki laughed, calling Yukiko by her old nickname. A wide smirk spread across Yukiko's face. Natsaki looked at her confused, but only for an instant. Rock began to incase her arm, petrifying it. Natsaki looked up to Yukiko with rage in her eyes.

"Ninja-art acid pool," she screeched before her fingers had been completely covered by the stone.

Yukiko felt the ground underneath start to liquefy. She quickly jumped out of the way to avoid melting…literally. Natsaki ran towards her, swiftly and gracefully. A punch aiming Yukiko's stomach. She had just barely missed. After that the two girls continued using taijutsu in the same pattern. Punch, kick, punch, punch, dodge, kick, kick dodge. Over and over again, the fight was starting to get too easy. Suddenly Yukiko felt a burn, like fire in her eyes. She through her hands to her eyes, pressing them firmly against her face. The pain was so agonizing she let out a soft whimper of pain, soon her whimpers were screeches. Natsaki stared at Yukiko shocked and curious.

"Give up," Natsaki hissed.

Yukiko curled into a ball on the ground, her eyes shut tight, "n-no," she managed to say through clenched teeth. Natsaki kept her position, still and silent…waiting for Yukiko to give. But Yukiko has become stronger then she used to be, the words could not get through her mouth. They were sealed and shut tight.

The proctor watched before turning around, "since Takahashi, Yukiko is unable to proceed with this match she is dis-"

"N-no," she gasped, standing up. Her entire body was trembling. Everyone looked amazed as she stood up, even Itachi.

"I'm not through with this bitch," she sneered shaking going back into a fighting position.

**A.N. Cliffy. So So So sorry I havn't updated in such a long time. I've just been lazy. Awful excuse sorry. I promise to get back on my regular update date. But let's make a deal. I get 15 reviews and I'll update again. Deal? Sweat!**


	5. Discoveries

"The perfect little, angel is having a potty mouth at the moment," Natsaki scoffed glaring at her. Yukiko turned her head up towards Natsaki, her eyes were shut tight.

Natsaki sneered "your still gonna fight?"

"I'll never give up! Ninja-art cloak of wind," Yukiko choked out, Natsaki could feel pain radiating off of her. Wind began to cover her body, hiding her. Natsaki breathed calmly relaxing, taking in slow breaths she looked around. Yukiko used to be very awful at this jutsu, now Natsaki couldn't even see a trail of her red hair. Natsaki let her senesces stretch. She could hear a faint breeze.

She turned quickly in the other direction, only to be welcomed by a strong and merciless punch to the face. She back away from it stunned falling onto her knees. She heard another movement turning again, this time she received a strong kick to the back. She growled standing back up on her feet, just to be knocked back down. Turning to where Yukiko was she lunged, barely missing. Yukiko could fell her rage and frustration building up as she continued to miss. Soon Yukiko punched Natsaki in the gut, making her fall again.

"What's it like being the weak one now," Yukiko's voice hissed through the air.

"Shut-up," Natsaki yowled standing up, "I'm not loosing to you here! You always get the best out of everything, this time it's my turn and I'm going to win this fight!"

"What do I really get that's so great," Yukiko asked coldly, kicking Natsaki in the gut.

"Gah," she coughed, blood trailing down her soft lips, she turned her head to face Yukiko, "what do you get that's great, don't make my laugh you arrogant little brat. What do you not get, You're the one who everyone always likes. You're the one who's always getting praises, what about me! You're the one who gets so much pity for an accident two years ago! You're the one who can keep friends even after screaming at them. You're the one who everyone is loyal too!…and you're the one who won Itachi's heart…" she ended with venom, standing up once again. Yukiko pushed all her words aside, attacking the blonde again. Natsaki was able to dodge, hearing the movement.

'Water-style, blood stained rain," Natsaki yelled. Red drops came from the sky this time, as they hit Yukiko's figure it was as if the rain stopped, floating in mid air.

Natsaki sneered, "ninja-art, blood needles!"

The red drips on Yukiko began to sharpen, suddenly all of the rain was as hard as rock and stabbed into her pale skin. "Ahh!" she yelled in shock, as her own blood ran down her arms.

Natsaki ran up to her and kicked her in the gut, "_gah_," she spat, with blood streaming down her face.

Her eyes were still shut tight, Natsaki picked her up and threw her against the stone walls of their battle field. Yukiko attempted to stand up, but failed. Itachi stared down at the fighting kunoichi. Thankfulness fill his eyes as Yukiko failed to stand up. This time the proctor was sure it was over.

"Since Takahashi, Yukiko is unable to provided, this match goes to Sasaki, Natsaki," there was a gleam of triumph in the blonde haired girls eyes.

The medics came and helped Yukiko up, when she was on her feet, she tried to push them away angrily. They put the weak girl on a stretcher and took her to a recovery room. Itachi got out of his chair and ran after them, he stopped by the doorway when he haired someone talking to her.

"Are you sure?" she asked with a quivering voice.

"We're sure, sorry miss," the doctor spoke leaving the room. He could hear angry sobs in the room. As he entered her hair was covering her face and she was sobbing to loud to notice him.

"Yuki?" he whispered her name softly.

"What?" she asked in soft voice that held so many emotions.

"Are you okay?" he asked sitting next to her. Her body stiffened, he could feel anger flowing through her veins like an ocean current.

"I'm I ok…" the words were quiet, her body began to tremble in rage, "WHAT DO YOU THINK! HOW AM I OKAY!" she was barely able stand up and move away from the bed she had been sitting on.

"I was wondering," Itachi whispered calmly.

"WHAT IN MY LIFE IS OKAY! EVERYTHING KEEPS GOING WRONG IN MY LIFE EVERYTHING!" now she was screeching at the top of her lungs.

"What is going so wrong," he asked moving closer to her.

"MY MOTHER AND FATHER ARE DEAD! I'M THE WEAKEST PERSON ON OUR TEAM. MY LIFE FOR THE PAST TO YEARS HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT A HEARTBREAKING PAIN!…I CAN'T EVEN SEE ANYMORE! E-veryt-thing always goes wrong in my life," she wept falling to the floor.

"Yuki," he almost cried himself.

She looked up to face him, her sparkling blue eyes were now cloudy, thin red lines were scratched across them. He remembered Natsaki once lunging at her, he noticed she had gotten Yukiko, just not her eyes. He had just thought one of her poisons had gotten her.

"I'm all alone. Mitsuru and Saki are my only family now…," she murmured to herself curling into a ball, "I have no body else…" tears trailed down her face.

Itachi sat down in front of her and lifted her chin, "I am always her with you. You will always have me," he assured.

"Mitsuru and Saki are my only family. No one else loves me… I'm such an awful person. I'm just ice on the inside."

"Yukiko," he whispered. She looked up to him with her clouded gaze.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I love you," he said gently. She looked at him shocked.

"As a friend," she managed to ask.

"No, much more than a friend." Her blue gaze filled with more tears, but he noticed these were of happiness. _"You're the one who had won Itachi's heart,"_ Natsaki had said.

"Thank you," she whispered burying her head into his chest.

"You're welcome," he said softly kissing the top of her head.

**A.N. I know short chapter sorry. Next will either be: 2nd**** to last chapter or last chapter. I didn't think this one was to good. Mainly because I really hate describing fights. I'm not very interested in them. But this chapter needed to be added. Don't forget to review please. I'll keep the vocab monster away!**

**With love, **

**Zac**


	6. Confusion

**4 Years Later**

Itachi sat down on a bench in the park. Yukiko sat beside him with their hands intertwined. Her cloudy blue eyes were still bright and cheerful, so different from how they were a years ago. The two had spent most of their day talking, it was his only day off ever since he had become a chunin. Yukiko was healed from the broken state she had been in, she was no longer silent or moody. She took much better care of herself and was never stressed anymore. This was his Yuki, the bright, happy, bubbly girl he had always loved. They spent most of the day talking about Saki and Mitsuru. He had not seen the children for about four years now, ever since he had become a chunin. Yukiko looked up and saw the setting sun, it was getting late. Mitsuru was going to be pissed if he didn't get dinner soon.

"I got to get going, Mitsuru's probably getting impatient," she sighed standing up from the bench.

"Maybe, I can walk you home," he suggested walking over to her side.

She gave a sweet smile and nodded, "sounds good." Itachi grabbed her hand again and started leading her home. He usually walked her home, but was never around long enough to even say hi.

As they arrived to her apartment, the scent of flowers welcomed them. Yukiko grew several flowers to remind her of their meadow, it was one thing Itachi always tended to love about her house.

She stopped at the door and reached for the handle hesitantly. She turned her head towards him, a sparkle in her eyes. As he stared into her eyes, he thought of the sun shining through a misty morning.

"Can you come in today? Maybe stay for dinner," it seemed like a plea, she asked this almost every night. Itachi sighed, he was getting tired of rejecting her offer, everytime he saw the hurt in her eyes he would flinch away.

"I can't," he said softly.

"I know..." she whispered looking away. He lifted her chin to look into her eyes. Her eyes were sad, but understanding.

He reached over and kissed her softly, "good-bye," he smiled before walking away and leaving.

"See you tomorrow!" she yelled before turning back towards the door.

Her figure walked through the door and out of eyesight. Itachi started walking away, his legs automatically heading towards the academy. It was common for Sasuke to stay after school and train. Itachi made a habit of going to pick him up. He noticed Sasuke's familiar figure, practicing throwing kunie. He was getting better, though there were still some flaws. Itachi walked up to him quietly, noticing another child farther away from him. They actually seemed better than Sasuke. Itachi stopped and watched. Their movements were very graceful and careful. She aimed with precise accuracy, hitting her target on the direct pinpoint. Something about the figure seemed familiar. There was another standing by a tree watching the one training.

"Nii-san!" A voice cried slamming into Itachi.

"Ah," Itachi cried almost loosing his balance.

"Sorry," Sasuke apologized backing away.

"It's okay," Itachi laughed looking at him, " I was just wasn't paying attention."

Sasuke looked at him curiously as he turned his thoughts back towards the other child who was training, "what is it Nii-san?"

"Who are those children?" Itachi asked a crease forming in his forehead.

"I dunno," Sasuke replied shrugging. He turned his head in their direction as well. The one by the tree seemed to notice them. He stood up straight and just stared. Both of them were younger then Sasuke, that was easily seen.

Itachi looked closer and he saw something bright at the corner of their eyes, it began to trail down their cheeks. Itachi could recognize the child as a boy. The boy called out to the other child, Itachi was to far away to hear what the had said, but the other figure stopped training and turned to face Itachi as well. He could see the other more clearly, they had long hair and dark eyes. They appeared to be a girl. Her posture froze. The other one came closer into vision and Itachi noticed pure white hair. As he looked into the boy's eyes his heart froze. Every part of his body felt petrified as thay stared at one another. The girl approached them too. Her hair was orange and she had violet eyes.

"Nii-san," Sasuke asked worriedly.

Itachi couldn't answer. He stared in just as much shock as the other two. Saki's eyes held so many emotions at once, it was hard to tell what she was feeling. Both children changed a bit. Mitsuru's hair was shorter than it used to be, his eyes seemed a bit darker and smarter, but the same playfulness was there. Saki now had long orange hair that was about mid-back. Her bangs grew almost covering her eyes. Her purple eyes held much more wisdom than they used to, there was a fire and determination in her eyes. Her eyes began to fill with sadness, betrayal, loss and other feelings. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes too.

"...Saki...Mitsuru?" Itachi asked softly, to be sure it was really them. Saki stared only for another half a second than turn and ran. Mitsuru turned in the direction his sister ran.

"...Itachi?" Mitsuru asked quietly, looking at the older boy. Sasuke watched the scene in deep confusion. Itachi tried to walk towards him, but he backed away.

"I...I have to go get my sister," he whispered, turning and running.

Itachi sat there feeling empty, until Sasuke began to pull at his sleeve, "who were they," Sasuke asked bewildered by the scene.

"Some old friends," Itachi breathed, "lets go..." he grabbed Sasuke's hand and the two walked home.

**A.N. Okay end for this chapter. I know short, but i decided I'll do short ones for now and update more often. Next chapter will be what it's like when Saki is talking face to face with Itachi. I'll work on that one soon!**

**Love,**

**Zac and Chris**


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